He Can Only Go Up From Here; Card Show Recap #23

During a brief yet productive trip to my weekly sports card show on Sunday, I, with full knowledge of his disastrous performance against the Cardinals on Saturday, purchased my very first autograph of Craig Kimbrel.

Truth be told, this card has been a long time coming. I've been avidly collecting cards of the 7-time All-Star for well over a year and a half. In spite of his struggles, to put it kindly, since joining the Chicago Cubs, I can't give up on the most talented closer of this generation so easily.

From a positive standpoint, there's an incredibly low likelihood of Kimbrel further regressing in 2020 to the point where his ERA is worse than what he has with the Cubs this season (6.53). One can hope that Kimbrel will only improve from here, making this the perfect time to land my first autograph of his.

For less than the price of a blaster box, I landed this gorgeous on-card autograph from 2018 Topps Museum, serial numbered 16/25 copies. Throughout his extended free agency period, I was skeptical to purchase a Kimbrel auto due to his unknown fate.

Now that he's officially a member of the Cubs, however, I felt this was the perfect time to make this major addition to The Kimbrel Collection. Plus, the price point wasn't too shabby either.

More so than a position player and even a starter, a relief pitcher is going to experience his fair share of struggles if he doesn't pitch in an MLB game for 8 months. This partially explains the 31-year old's poor performance with the Cubs.

With Kimbrel under contract through 2021 and a vesting option in-place for 2022, Cubs fans want nothing more than for the 2011 NL Rookie of the Year to return to his prime.

His years with Atlanta and final 2 seasons in Boston proved that Kimbrel could be at the same level as legends like Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman.

Though he basically lost the entire 2018 season, I have faith in Craig Kimbrel. I mean, if I'm going to collect him avidly and purchase an auto of his after that performance, it's pretty clear that I believe in his abilities.

A Nice Welcome Home Gift

What a week.

I'm not going to get into my recap posts for the 40th National Sports Collectors Convention until tomorrow, but I wanted, if nothing else, to share how unforgettable this experience was.

This was my 2nd straight year attending the show, so I had a better idea of what to expect. The sheer size of the venue is overwhelming for anyone, but after a while, I was able to find my way around and do business with some phenomenal vendors.

In many ways, the Chicago show was extremely similar to and different from the Cleveland convention. This year's show seemed to be slightly larger, but at the moment, I can't necessarily rank one above the other.

My flight from Chicago to Boston got in around 11:30 this morning, allotting me some time to get situated and begin the process of organizing all of the new cards that my Dad and I brought back.

Before I get overly invested in sorting and sharing the cards from The National, I wanted to take today to share the cards that I received from a trade package, sent to me by Marc of Remember the Astrodome.

We worked this trade out before I departed for Chicago last Tuesday, and it was nice to return home and see that the package had arrived in the mail. He reached out and mentioned that he could help with my 2019 Panini Prizm Project.

Though the package he sent me was centered around 2019 Panini Prizm, Marc also threw in a few cards that I didn't already have in The Kimbrel Collection. In addition to a Panini Prizm card from a few years back, I received a Pinnacle insert and a 2014 Topps retail green parallel.

With the addition of these 3 cards, The Kimbrel Collection is up to 131 different cards. That puts Kimbrel at the #27 spot on the list of my largest player collections, trailing guys like Carl Yastrzemski and Brooks Robinson by only a few cards.

Because he didn't sign a contract until June, Kimbrel hasn't been featured in many 2019 Baseball card sets. Hopefully, 2020 will be a better year to grow The Kimbrel Collection as a whole and that PC will reach 150 cards before then.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't want to reveal too much about what happened at The National throughout the week, but I will say that I couldn't track down any 2019 Panini Prizm cards for my project. 

No matter how much I looked or how many bins I searched through, I came up short when it came to 2019 Panini Prizm base cards and parallels. There was one vendor at the show selling a few Prizm cards, but there were no price tags on the top loaders, and the lot was gone by the time I went back to the booth.

Thus, I was ecstatic, even after a week of buying Baseball cards, when I returned home to around 20 new cards for my Prizm set. The project as a whole is quite daunting, but this trade certainly helped, particularly with the base cards.

The wide range of parallels is what attracted me to 2019 Panini Prizm in the first place, but I can't say the same about the structure of the base set. The 3 tiers (#1-100 are common, #101-200 are uncommon, #201-300 are rare) make the set unnecessarily challenging to collect.

When you've got over 25 parallels in a product, there's no need to separate the base set into tiers, especially since there are no big-name rookies in the base set checklist.

Nonetheless, Marc was kind enough to send me some of the higher number cards, including quite a few rare (#201-300) ones like the Eric Hosmer card above.

I absolutely envision myself spending years on this insane project, but I'm fortunate to have resources, especially trading partners, to help me inch closer to my goal. 

No matter how many parallels, both numbered and non-numbered, there are in this set, acquiring just 1 helps me make progress with my mission. I'm not looking for Prizms numbered to fewer copies than 25, so that should make this a little easier.

Thanks again for the Prizm cards, Marc. Now, get ready for a week full of recap posts from The National.

They Both Finally Signed!

Over 6 months ago, I posted my predictions for the 2018-19 MLB offseason, almost all of which ended up being incorrect. 

At the time, mid-November, I believed that I was posting these forecasts on the late side, for I fully expected the 8 or so superstars whom I discussed to sign contracts soon after I made these picks.

I never knew how incorrect I'd be. It's taken over half a year for all the players in my offseason predictions post to officially sign contracts. In the last couple of days, pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel made it official, agreeing to terms with the Braves and Cubs respectively. 

Both star pitchers will now earn less money in 2019 than the $17.9 million guaranteed dollars offered by the Red Sox and Astros following the 2018 season. 

In fact, Kimbrel and Keuchel's decision to decline those offers is what caused them not to get signed until early June; teams did not want to face a draft pick penalty by signing players who declined their qualifying offers.

That, combined with Kimbrel and, to a lesser degree, Keuchel's alleged outrageous asking price, has effectively caused these 2 All-Star pitchers to miss half a season. 

While I'm thrilled that Kimbrel will be playing for the Cubs, my 2nd favorite team, I'm equally glad that the rumors that surrounded these guys for months will finally die down.

I won't be going super in-depth, but I want to speak briefly about both of the free agent signings, starting with Keuchel's 1-year $13 million dollar deal with the Atlanta Braves.

For whatever reason, Dallas Keuchel decided to leave the 2017 World Series Champions, the Houston Astros, and take less money to join Atlanta. I'm not discrediting the successful franchise that the Braves have become, but I'm struggling to grasp exactly why Keuchel decided to leave Houston.

On paper, Houston is a much more well-rounded team than Atlanta; they have some of the games most talented hitters and one of the most feared rotations in Baseball. Keuchel was a part of that, winning the AL Cy Young award in 2015. 

I just don't understand why he'd throw all of that away and miss half of the 2019 season. Although I expect him to succeed in Atlanta, the decision is a tad baffling.

Keuchel's yet to have his press conference with his new team, but the 31-year old is expected to make a start in Triple-A Gwinnett on Saturday. I'm sure he, along with Kimbrel, need a few weeks to get the swing of things before they appear in an MLB game for the first time in 2019.

Because of that, I don't foresee either one of them playing for at least a week or 2. In fact, I believe that I heard Kimbrel won't appear in a game until around June 25th after signing with the Cubs a couple of days ago. 

Speaking of Craig Kimbrel, the 7-time All-Star missed out on a potential 8th selection by not agreeing to terms with a team until early June. However, after having his press conference with Chicago, all that's left to do is wait for him to make his Chicago Cubs debut as well as his return to the National League.

While his 2019 season is going to be a bit of a transition, Kimbrel's 3-year $43 million dollar contract with the Cubs ensures that he'll have a couple more seasons to regain his status as a top 2 closer in Baseball. 

He may not have earned the reported $100 million dollars that he desired, but he'll be earning reasonable money while playing for a perennial playoff contender.

I definitely expect the rest of the 2019 season to be an uphill battle for both pitchers, especially Kimbrel. Nevertheless, I have faith in Kimbrel's ability to come back strong for the Cubs in both 2020 and 2021. 

After months of uncertainty, I'm glad to finally know where Kimbrel will be playing for the next few seasons. Better yet, he'll take the field for my 2nd favorite team, the Chicago Cubs, in a number of weeks. 

Keuchel, on the other hand, basically signed a 1/2 year contract with the Braves. Pretty soon, he'll have to go through the same thing he experienced during the last offseason following the 2019 season. A return to Atlanta or Houston is probable, and I don't think anyone would be shocked to see him end up on the Yankees as well.

My Lowest Numbered Kimbrel Card Yet

Have no fear, I'm still somewhat actively super collecting Craig Kimbrel and tracking down as many cards as possible of the 7-time All-Star. With that being said, I've been a little hasty to acquire valuable cards of Kimbrel ever since he became a free agent following the 2018 season. 

It never appeared likely that Kimbrel would re-up with the Boston Red Sox after the 2018 season came to a close. Rather, both sides seemed content to move on without the other, and it hasn't worked out great for either party. 

The 2011 NL Rookie of the Year remains unsigned, and the Red Sox have been shaky and inconsistent since this season began. Though Boston appears to have turned things around, one can assume that they'd benefit from adding Kimbrel to their roster.

Admittedly, while I've still been picking up inexpensive Kimbrel cards, I've stayed away from low-numbered cards or autographs over the last few months. I'd rather wait and see where he's going to sign before investing in a Craig Kimbrel autograph on the Boston Red Sox.

With that being said, I'm always open to trading for any Craig Kimbrel card that I don't already have. Whether it's a standard base card or a 1/1 parallel, I'm certainly willing to trade for any Craig Kimbrel card not already listed in my inventory.

Recently, Greg of The Collective Mind reached out to me regarding a Craig Kimbrel relic from 2013 Topps Triple Threads that he had available. Of course, I was immediately interested, so I replied back and worked out a trade. 

The card arrived in the mail today, and I quickly changed my posting schedule for this week in order to show off the card today. There it is at the top of this post, serial numbered 31/36.

I must admit that I'm not usually a fan of plain white jersey relics, especially in a high-end product like Topps Triple Threads. However, when paired with Kimbrel's bright red jersey and the extravagant set design, the plain color doesn't bother me quite as much. 

It's also an added bonus that the memorabilia is game-used, something that not every Baseball card relic guarantees. Typically, high-end Baseball card products, as well as Topps Heritage, feature game-used jersey swatches, but the same cannot be said for all sets. 

The game-used vs game-worn jersey swatch issue is even more profound in Football cards where Panini is notorious for using the latter for most of their cards, even those from high-end products.

Although the jersey relic's usage, or lack thereof, isn't a huge concern for me, it's always a plus when the relic is game-worn. The card definitely has a lot going for it, from the relic being game-used to the fact that this is my lowest numbered card of Kimbrel to date.

Beforehand, the lowest numbered Craig Kimbrel card in my collection was 50 copies, a mark that has officially been usurped by this Triple Threads relic. 

After receiving this card in the mail today, The Kimbrel Collection now has 127 unique cards.

Top 5 Cards; Craig Kimbrel

Slowly but surely, players have begun to sign or be traded to new teams in what has already been an eventful offseason despite being just over a month into it. 

With the Nationals' signing of Patrick Corbin to a 6-year deal yesterday, one of the major free agents is off the market. In addition to Dallas Keuchel, Craig Kimbrel is one of the top pitchers remaining up for grabs, certainly the best relief pitcher after Edwin Diaz was traded to the Mets.

By his standards, 2018 was a down year for 7-time All-Star closer, Craig Kimbrel. Granted, his 2.74 ERA was nothing to sneeze at, but when compared to his 1.43 ERA in 2018, it highlights his slight dip in performance. 

He still managed 96 strikeouts and 42 saves, but the rise of the previously mentioned Edwin Diaz caused Kimbrel to be outshined.

According to MLB, he's seeking a 6-year deal, keeping the 2011 NL Rookie of the Year under contract until the end of his age 37-season. Given how inconsistent relief pitchers can be, the length of the contract is very unlikely to happen. 

If anything, I could see him coming back to Boston on a 1-year deal similar to what Mike Moustakas did last year with a salary similar to that of the qualifying offer of $17.9 million. Or, he could shock us all and get the 6-year deal he's asking for from some team ready to make a World Series push.

Even if he goes elsewhere, Kimbrel's 3 seasons in Boston were what helped him become one of my favorite players, and his 2017 season in which he struck out nearly 50% of the batters he faced was nothing short of legendary. 

It's a big reason why I began to collect him more seriously given that his player collection is currently at 117 cards. Out of all the options, I chose 5 that I thought were above all the rest.

#5 2013 Topps Chrome 1972 Design

I would much rather have seen a 45-year anniversary set for 1972 Topps in 2017 instead of the monstrosity of wood-border '87 cards that we got, but I'll settle for 2013 instead which commemorated the set in Topps Archives, Flagship with minis, and an insert set in Topps Chrome which is where the Kimbrel card comes in. 

The red border works incredibly well with the crisp looking Atlanta Braves home uniform, and I must say that '72 Topps looks way better on chrome cardstock than I would've thought. It makes me super excited for 2021 Topps Heritage when we'll finally get to see my favorite set of all-time in a 500-card checklist.

#4 2015 Topps Heritage Chrome Purple Refractor

While I'm on the topic of Heritage, one of my favorite parts of the brand year after year is the Heritage Chrome cards, though they've seemingly become increasingly rare over the last couple of years. From the base chrome to refractors and the purple refractors above, it's always fun to pull one of these out of Heritage retail or hobby packs, and it's especially thrilling to hit a purple refractor hot box like I did out of 2018 Topps Heritage back in March.

#3 2016 Topps Museum

If Topps wants to come close to creating a Topps Flagship set as exciting as 2015 Topps, they're gonna have to experiment and find an excellent design that incorporates black borders. Though it will prove challenging, it's something that collectors have been asking for; an upgraded 2007 Topps, so to speak.

Kimbrel's 2016 Topps Museum card highlights all the things I love about the product aside from the fact that many of the cards were miss-cut. Black and silver is a classic combination that has never truly failed to work. All Topps has to do is create a modern set with those 2 colors and given that it's the job of multitudes of people, someone should be able to figure it out.

#2 2013 Topps Heritage Retail Red Parallel

If Topps was still rolling out these retail-exclusive red parallels 3 years later when Kimbrel was on the Red Sox, one of those cards would undoubtedly make it to the #1 spot on the list. The possible combination of the red border with an alternate home Red Sox jersey is too good to ignore. 

With that being said, I also can't ignore how fantastic the red borders of the 2013 Topps Heritage set look. As one of the many cards I picked up from The National, I was able to discover a new parallel that I had never known existed beforehand. To do that and add to the Kimbrel Collection is a win-win for sure.

#1 2018 Topps 1983 Design Black Parallel

Like I said before, Topps is missing out on major opportunities by not producing a Flagship set with black borders. The color of the border helps to enhance this insert from 2018 Topps Series 1 more than nearly any other color, not to mention how good of a job Topps did with recreating the iconic '83 set.

The chosen image is yet another detail of this card that was executed well. Though I wouldn't initially think of choosing an image with the red jersey, showing Kimbrel jogging from the bullpen, I quickly realized how well it works with the rest of the card.

Somewhere in the world, there are 10 of these cards with red borders, obviously making them quite rare. I can only imagine how fantastic this card would look with a red border along with the red uniform and 1983 Topps design. Someday, I hope to track one of those down. 

That'll be step #1. Step #2 will be being willing to pay the price that the card ends up costing.